The new hoarding features the popular Amul girl and her friend as they imitate the characters played by Partho Gupte and Saqib Salim in the movie. The Amul girl is shown vibrantly dressed in skating attire, holding slices of buttered bread and skating along the road with a phrase that reads: “HAVE A….HAVE AAI….SOME MASKA” splashed across the top, said a statement.

Critically acclaimed Hawaa Hawaai, released May 9, collected approximately Rs.5 crore in four days. The inspirational story, which talks about the triumph of the human spirit, friendship and the journey of making one’s dream come true, has pleased the critics.

The movie, that was presented by Fox Star Studios, has even wowed celebrities like Karan Johar, Juhi Chawla and Mahesh Bhatt.

Hawaa Hawaai is Amole Gupte’s latest film after his critically acclaimed Stanley Ka Dabba. Talk of Hawaa Hawaai‘s sequel to hit the floors next year are doing the rounds. Read on to find out

Filmmaker Amole Gupte’s latest release Hawaa Hawaai has garnered positive response from the audience, and now a sequel to the movie is likely to roll in 2015.

“I have a few ideas for the sequel. I’m happy with the positive response that Hawaa Hawaai has got. People have loved the movie as well as boys, who are truly phenomenal in the film,” Amole said.

The movie features Saqib Salim and Amole’s son Partho in the lead.

A source aware of the developments reported that, “The (sequel to the) film is expected to go on floors only next year as Amole is busy with ‘Singham 2′. Post ‘Singham 2′ (in which he is acting), he will put his mind to writing the film.

“The film will have a similar casting like Hawaa Hawaai with Amole hand-picking the best kids to do the job.”

In what can be called a genuine gesture to promote Partho Gupte and Saqib Saleem’s sweet-looking film, the two B-town legends talk about relentlessly pursuing to chase their dreams

Kapil Sharma and Rohit Shetty have their own list of achievements and the world acknowledges that fact. The two recently came together to promote this week’s release Hawaa Hawaai, which tells the story of a dreamer, Partho Gupte, and his mentor and believer, Saqib Saleem. Amole Gupte is best remembered for warming the cockles of our collective hearts with his style of filmmaking, where he delivered gems like Taare Zameen Par and Stanley Ka Dabba.

Kapil and Rohit talk about their personal dreams in life and how they believed in them and kept on following their heart to achieve them. Hawaa Hawaai is the story of how a dream can be achieved by believing in them and working constantly towards making them come true. In this video you will see the Comedy Nights With Kapil superstarspeak about his life journey and how he became what he is today. Also the legend who is referred to as the 200 crore director speaks about his life’s journey and emphasises on the importance of believing and trusting in your dreams.

This is one of the sweetest and most innovative ways of promoting the film, which has such a big heart. Farhan Akhtar had also shared his dreams and spoken about his life’s journey in a previous video. Vidya Balan and Yuvraj Singh also spoke their hearts out about their life’s journey. Keep watching this space for more such ‘dreamer’ videos.

In what can be called a genuine gesture to promote Partho Gupte and Saqib Saleem’s sweet-looking film, the two Indian legends talk about relentlessly pursuing to chase their dreams

Vidya Balan and Yuvraj Singh have their own list of achievements and the world acknowledges that fact. The two recently came together to promote this week’s release Hawaa Hawaai, which tells the story of a dreamer, Partho Gupte, and his mentor and believer, Saqib Saleem. Amole Gupte is best remembered for warming the cockles of our collective hearts with his style of filmmaking, where he delivered gems like Taare Zameen Par and Stanley Ka Dabba.

Vidya and Yuvraj talk about their personal dreams in life and how they believed in them and kept on following their heart to achieve them. Hawaa Hawaai is the story of how a dream can be achieved by believing in them and working constantly towards making them come true. In this video you will see the four time filmfare award winning heroine speak about her life journey and how she became what she is today. Also the Man of the series of the 2011 Cricket World Cup speaks about his life’s journey and emphasises on the importance of believing and trusting in your dreams.

Hawaa Hawaai is definitely a good attempt at a ‘good’ Bollywood film

What it’s about: Bollywood ignores two genres of films. sports and children’s films. Amole Gupte brings both the genres together in one moving, touching and an emotional tale of a boy’s dream. Hawaa Hawaai is the story of a boy Arjun (Partho Gupte) who moves to Mumbai along with his mother, little sister and granny after his losing his father and home. He drops out of school and begins to work with a tea seller. There’s no joy in his life till he makes friends with three street kids. He watches rich kids skates and dreams of winning, with the help of coach Lucky (Saqib Salim), who mentors kids. his friends help him to make his dream come true.

What’s good:Hawaa Hawaai has all the ingredients for an absorbing and touching film that anyone who has ever had a dream can relate to. It is an inspiring, well-cast and well-enacted film. The street kids will win you over from the moment they walk into the frame. Gupte captures friendship between the four boys so beautifully, you start hoping the story is only about that. He brings to life the children who work around us and we don’t really see or do anything about. and for me that’s the most important take away from the film. It makes you care without making the film about a social message. Saqib fares well as Lucky the coach. Scenes like when the boys all venture out to buy skates for Arjun aka Raju, when the little boy’s mother takes him for the job then has second thoughts, or when he collects a day’s salary late at night will melt your heart. Plenty of moments will have you smiling and dabbing your eyes alternately. Don’t miss the boy called chore Salman Khan who is always shirtless. Pragya Yadav makes a confident debut in a small role. Neha Joshi is fantastic as Raju’s mother. You need to have a heart of stone to not be moved by this film

What’s bad: There is a fine line while telling an emotional story between moving and manipulating, and here the director fails us. After a point you begin to feel like too many emotional devices are being used. The tension between the brothers, the tragic accident how lost their parents, another accident by a drunk teenager that leaves Lucky with a broken foot, the convenient romance, … A lot of parts seem forced and preachy. Also, those many scenes of lighting diya in front of the dead father were not needed. The father looking on proudly from the window at the son reading out a chapter in the class — cheesy. It doesn’t come together as well as in Nagesh Kukunoor’s Iqbal, which remains my benchmark for a film like this. You hate yourself for noticing the flaws in a film that was made with so much heart and good intention. What could have been an honest film turns formulaic by trying relentlessly to drag an sentimental reaction out of you. The result could have been so much better had Amole stuck to the core.

What to do: Everyone who cribs that Bollywood doesn’t attempt good films, must go see this.

Amole Gupte pairs with his son yet again for this film after his much appreciated Stanley Ka Dabba

Harishchandra Waghmare (Makrand Dehpande) lits the lamp and a small room suddenly becomes alive, full of hope and faith. The father imbibes this learning into his son Arjun (Partho Gupte), a lesson to never loose hope. This opening shot of Amol Gupte’s Hawaa Hawaai more or less tells you everything about the film. Where there is darkness, there is hope for brightness or the clichéd where there is a will there is a way.

Plot:

Produced by Fox Star Studios, Hawaa Hawaai is about Arjun who losses his father at a very young age and hence becomes the sole bread winner of the family. He joins a tea vendor’s shop and works from early morning till late night. In the evening he watches Aniket Bhargava (Saqib Saleem) conduct skating classes for the kids on the Bandra-Kurla road. After observing the sport, the little one dreams of learning the sport. Arjun’s gang of friends also help him chase his dream. Aniket Bhargava aka Lucky notices the potential in the kid and trains him for district level championship. Will Lucky manage to fulfil Arjun’s dream? Will Arjun chase his dream or leave it mid-way? For this, you definitely should watch the movie this weekend.

Though the storyline is not really new, the in between elements of the film make you think about several issues. There are two of my most favourite scenes in the film. The first one is when Lucky shouts at Arjun for not performing well in practice and Arjun goes home and sobs silently with a mouth full of cloth pieces so that his mother who is sleeping right beside him does not know that her responsible son is in agony of pressure and self-disappointment. This one was really heart-warming. There’s another one where Lucky realises that even if Arjun wins the competition, he will still have to work at the tea stall. His helplessness is captured quite well.

Performances:

Partho Gupte deserves a special mention for portraying the role of Arjun with so much of conviction that his performance seems effortless. His friends, Gochi (Ashfaque Bismillah Khan), Bhura (Salman Chhote Khan), Abdul (Maaman Menon) and Bindaas Murugan (Thirupathi Kushnapelli) are extremely adorable in the film. Each of them have excelled their characters. Saqib Saleem as Aniket Bhargava in the film has underplayed in the first half, but shines in the second half of the film. I guess that is coz his character becomes more believable in the second half. The supporting cast too has done a great job. Hitesh Sonik and Amole Gupte’s music has added soul to this film quite literally.

Verdict:

As much as I liked the film, there were a few loop holes like the pace of the film. Also in some parts the plot jumps suddenly. Though this isn’t really a major problem, more precision would have certainly helped the film quite a lot. To sum it up, Hawaa Hawaai is one of the biggest examples of modern cinema and should have its rightful existence amongst a plethora of big budget films. Watch it for the thought invested in the project if not for anything else.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reviewed by Avinash Lohana

* Poor

** Average

*** Good

**** Very good

***** Excellent

]]>ArticleSaqib Saleem: Partho Gupte hasn’t realised till date that he has won a National Film award!http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/saqib-saleem-partho-gupta-hasnt-realised-till-date-that-he-has-won-a-national-film-award/
Thu, 08 May 2014 03:30:28 +0000Prateek Surhttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=343375

The Bombay Talkies actor has been appreciated for his acting and he is all set to play a skating coach in his upcoming sports film. Read on to know about the film and his character

Sitting in the plush Yash Raj Studios, Saqib Saleem spoke to us recently about his upcoming film Hawaa Hawaai, his National award winning co-star Partho Gupte, director Amole Gupte and how being a cricketer helped him in playing his character, Aniket Bhargava. Excerpts from the interview

The tagline of the film says Kucch sapne sone nahi dete, did you have any such dreams when you were growing up?

Don’t you? Everyone has. I too had such a dream. I have been a cricketer all my life and at my home in Delhi, I had a life size poster of Sachin Tendulkar in my room and I used to talk to that poster always and keep saying, “Sir, I am coming!” Every year I used to tell Sachin that I am coming to play with him, but every year kept passing and I kept seeing that I am still another year away. So that was when I had a personal check and realised that I might have been living the wrong dream and therefore I decided to change my dream. That’s when I decided to stop wasting my parents money on cricket and decided to do something else. Then I thought of becoming an actor.

Was being a sportsperson the real reason for choosing this film?

Not for choosing this film, but for working in this film. I always wanted to do a sports film because I was a sportsman all my life. And being a sportsman helped me in bettering my performance in the film. You put a football player in a cricket field or you put a tennis player in a basketball court, they somehow manage. They might not master the sport but their body language is definitely the same. So that is what helped me in the film. I have grown up watching film like Jo Jeeta Wahi Sikander, Chak De! India, Iqbal and all, which I completely love and adore.

So did you have a prior skating experience?

When I was in school, I did a bit of skating, but then as I grew up I entered into cricket and I stopped skating. I had even played rollerblade hockey many a times in school, but then for cricket everything else took the back seat. For the film I once again started coaching with Ajay and Dheeraj sir, who are national level skaters. More than me knowing skating it was my knowledge of the sport that mattered. I had to know the nitty gritties of the sport because when Amole Gupte sir shoots, he lets the kids react originally. So when the kids used to ask me any questions during the shoot, I didn’t want to be not-knowing the answer, because once the kids see that you don’t know the answers, they will start hating you. That might have had hampered my role in the film and thus I didn’t want that to happen.

You are playing a coach in the film. So do you have any such coaches in real life, whom you consider as your mentor?

When I was playing cricket in Delhi, I was training under Mr Chetan Sharma, who was an India team player. He is a mentor figure for me and we still keep in touch. He called me up after seeing Mere Dad Ki Maruti and said, “Oye tu toh actor ban gaya” (Hey you became an actor).

How was it working with Amole Gupte?

Very different and very very interesting. I come from Yash Raj Studios and I have worked with Dharma Productions. I am so used to being treated as an actor. I had my personal vanity van, my personal spot boy, my personal make up artist, I order whatever I want to eat and all of that. I am pampered basically. Now here I enter in where there are no vanity vans on sets, no make-up artists and only one spot boy for the entire crew. I was like, “What the hell!” I wondered if I really wanted to do everything. But then when you join a film, you join hands with your director and walk on his vision. So I did the same. I was like when the five-six year old kids can sit in the scorching sun, who am I to be sitting in an AC room. Its better I bond with these kids, which will help me understand them better and they will also start having a liking for me and then maybe we will have a great chemistry onscreen.

While shooting or even post it, did you ever feel like you were the second lead in the film and Partho Gupte was the central lead hero?

Lets watch the film and then decide about that, but for one thing I will tell you is that this story is about a journey which two people decide to take on together. One is the dreamer, Partho, and the other is the believer, Me. I train him in the film. I am the prime catalyst in his life. It’s like if he is Arjun then I am Krishna. They can’t function without each other. There was no level of insecurity.

How was it working with Partho?

Partho is just 13 but his brain is far more sharper. He has grown up in a family where his father is Amole Gupte and mother is Deepa Bhatia. In his age, he has seen far more films than me. He is so sorted in life and well focused. At his age I was no way as sorted and I didn’t even know what I was doing in life. He is a little bit moody also, but you give in to that as you know he is a kid. Sometimes his mood goes off and he doesn’t want to work and do something else, but that all okay as he does fantastic work when he is in the right mood. He is growing up very well and his parents help in keeping him grounded. He is yet to realise that he has won a National Film award. Maybe if I had won it at his age, I would have been floating in the sky and wouldn’t be talking to anyone.

Is Sridevi a part of the film?

She is the original Hawaa Hawaai, but she is not there in the film. We showed her the trailer and she really loved it. She decided to grace our trailer launch with her presence and we couldn’t for anything better than that from her. The film is called Hawaa Hawaii for a specific reason, which you will get to see in the film.

Talking about you, is it difficult being an outsider in the film industry?

It’s difficult and easy both. It’s difficult because you don’t have access to a lot of people. You don’t know whom to talk to, whom to meet and all, but at the same time there are no expectations from you. And it is that feeling of being an underdog that pushes you to work better. And from a point of no expectation, when you come up with a superb film or a superb performance, people start loving you a lot. If I am somebody’s son everyday I have to prove it to people that I am equally good or not, which is a very difficult thing to live up to. I feel it’s harder to be a star son.

The father son duo from Stanley Ka Dabba come together for another filmi project

Saqib Saleem Partho and Amol Gupte promised the audience a lot with the mere trailer of their film Hawa Hawai. Do they live up to the expectations? Will this film push Huma Quereshi’s bro in a bigger and better league of Bollywood actors. Will young talent Partho Gupte manage to win over his fans yet again. Does Amol Gupte prove himself as a director? Well, our reviewer Avinash Lohana answers all these questions in his quick review of Hawaa Hawaai. Here take a look…

“A combination of will and hope, Hawaa Hawaai is a film of substance. The film is a topsy-curvy ride which opens with a song that builds hope and will to do something substantial in life, and soon takes you to a life of deprivation and misery. Real world indeed. Arjun aka Raju (Partho) is the lead protagonist in the film along side Saqib Saleem who essays the role of Raju’s skating teacher. Raju comes from a poor family and is the only bread winner in the family. The film is about Raju’s efforts to learn skates along with his struggle to keep his family going. Saqib’s character though showcases immense potential, is slightly underplayed. Music adds life to this film. It has drama, emotions and most importantly a strong story line. This Drona-Ekalavya story is definitely worth a watch.”

]]>ArticlePartho Gupte: I want to study direction and make films when I grow up!http://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/partho-gupte-i-want-to-study-direction-and-make-films-when-i-grow-up/
Wed, 07 May 2014 06:00:14 +0000Purva Khole | PTIhttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=343382

After winning awards and hearts for his performance in Stanley Ka Dabba, the actor is set for Amole Gupte’s next that releases this week

Bollywood child actor Partho Gupte may have won glorious awards for his debut ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’, but he plans to take a break from films after his next release ‘Hawaa Hawaai‘ in order to concentrate on his studies.

In ‘Hawaa Hawaai‘, which is based on inline speed skating, the National-award-winning actor, 13, plays a determined rural boy, who never loses focus from his goal . Directed by his father Amole Gupte, the sports film will hit cinemas on May 9.

“For now I won’t be acting in films as I want to study. I want to finish 9th and finish my school first. Then I want to study direction at New York University. I want to make films (when I grow up). I don’t want to sound preachy but I want to make films that convey a message to people,” said Partho.

“The message could be anything but it should make people understand more about life and about themselves through the films,” he added. However, fitting in the shoes of a skater was not a big deal for the actor as he was popular in the sport at the district level some years ago. But Partho insists he did have to polish the skills for the film that also features Saqib Saleem of ‘Bombay Talkies‘ fame in role of his mentor. “When I was a kid, I used to skate at district level and I left it for some reasons. I practised it again for sometime for the film as there were certain parts that were a bit hard to do in skating,” he said.

The story of a focused skater had been cultivating in his father’s mind ever since he exhibited a passion for the sport. Amole had been penning the script of ‘Hawaa Hawaai’ from a very long time. “It all started when I am smaller than now. I used to skate everyday, and my father used to go with me. He used to type something or the other on laptop while I was skating,” he said.

“Then he started telling me the story of ‘Hawaa Hawaai‘ and the character (Arjun) I play. I wanted to know more about him. So we were all into the script. When I was in 7th, my father was like, ‘now you have to be Arjun’,” he added. Partho credits his father for instilling in him the desire to pursue acting. “My biggest inspiration in terms of acting is my father as he is the one who introduced me to all these personalities like ‘Godfather‘ legend Vito Corleone and many others. He runs these theatre and cinema studies workshops. He teaches underprivileged students at a school. I have been with him since its started,” he said. “We used to go together. There used to direction and acting (cinema and theatre studies). We used to have a blast,” he added.

Movies, books, photography, and his cat keeps the young actor occupied in his leisure. But it is movies and his camera that interests him the most. Even though Partho hugely admires the work of Oliver Stone, Majid Majidi, it is filmmaker Rohit Shetty whose movies he never misses. “I like all types of films. Oliver Stone, Majid Majidi’s films they all introduced me to a different type of world. But I love Rohit Shetty,” he said. “He is like everything, he is superb. I have seen all of his films atleast three times,” he added.

]]>ArticleAmole Gupte: Children inspire me and I really respect the world of the childrenhttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/news-gossip/amole-gupte-children-inspire-me-and-i-really-respect-the-world-of-the-children/
Mon, 05 May 2014 07:32:42 +0000Purva Khole | PTIhttp://www.bollywoodlife.com/?p=342554

The man behind critically acclaimed children-centric films ‘Taare Zameen Par’ and ‘Stanley Ka Dabba’, says he never puts his young actors through the process of auditions

Amole Gupte is gearing up for the release of his upcoming film ‘Hawaa Hawaai‘ that stars his National-award-winning son Partho Gupte and Saqib Saleem of ‘Bombay Talkies’. Based on inline speed skating, the sports film is slated to release on May 9. “I never audition any child and they also don’t test me, so that’s a great and a long lasting friendship. Children inspire me and I really respect the world of the children,” said Gupte. “It’s like a kingdom that I never want to leave because they are honest, transparent, they don’t judge you and I don’t judge them either,” he added.

While Partho plays a rural boy, who is new to the speed sport, Saqib would be seen in the role of a coach. Gupte said his film boasts a nail-bitting 20-minute-long climax. “The movie is about inner strength and living your dreams. It talks a lot about taking that big leap. It has an interesting 20 minutes climax. Partho plays a rural boy, who he is introduced to this new sport. He is a dreamer and the believer is Saqib, the coach,” he said. After making his Bollywood debut 2011 film ‘Stanley Ka Dabba‘, Partho has reunited with his director father in ‘Hawaa Hawaai‘. Partho might be creating his own identity in the industry with his remarkable performance but his father always ensures that Partho and other children working in him film do not get exploited.

“We shoot in workshop form, which are of 3-4 hours. It has break in between and time for relaxation. We don’t work in shifts. Shooting is done on holidays, on the floor and on the locations. So there is absolutely no stress on the child as it’s done on a holiday like a hobby,” Gupte said. “I am trying to bring in the law so that the children are not misused in the media. So I am trying to create a prototype with my work,” he added.

Through his work, Gupte, who is the chairperson of Indian Children’s Film Society, endeavours to bring into the public notice the issues faced by the children.

Gupte began his cinematic journey with ‘Taare Zameen Par’ which he wrote. “I want to raise the issues about their agony. After ‘Taare Zameen Par‘, things changed in the education system. They stopped marking the scheme and started the grading system. I try to highlight the issues faced by children through my films,” he said.